Japanese firm to build P1.35B air separation plant in Clark

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga, Philippines – Ingasco, a leading Japanese gas firm is constructing a P1.35 billion air separation plant here.

Masahiko Kitabatake, president of Ingasco, Inc., led the recent groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of an air separation facility project of Taiyo Nippon Sanso Clark, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ingasco, Inc.

At least 30 personnel would be employed during its initial construction phase, and at least 300 workers once the facility is fully operational, said Noel Ret Sampol, project manager of Taiyo Nippon Sanso Clark, Inc.

Arthur P. Tugade, president of the Clark Development Corporation (CDC), pledged the state-owned firm’s commitment and support to the company.

“Ingasco will establish and operate an air separation plant facility for the existing and future needs for industrial, medical and specialty gases of several firms, including semiconductor facilities, inside Clark,” Tugade said.

The fuel facility would be located in a 32,928-square-meter area along Panday Pira Avenue here.

The project would include the installation of mechanical and electrical equipment used for air separation such as cryogenic distillation column, multi-stage air compressors, pumps, electrical substation, cooling towers and cryogenic storage tanks, among others.

Once fully operational, Ingasco would be capable of supplying nitrogen, argon, and oxygen to big Clark-based firms like Texas Instruments (TI) and Phoenix Semiconductor Philippines Corp. (PSPC), and other electronic and semiconductor companies.

Ingasco is 70 percent owned by its mother company Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation (TNSC), a major supplier of industrial gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon to a wide range of industries, including the steel, chemical, electronics, automobile, construction, shipbuilding, and food industries.

The company also develops and manufactures gas-applied devices and equipment and plays a vital role in the frontiers of science and environmental preservation, as well as the Japan National Hydrogen Project.

Aside from its industrial gas business, the corporation is also involved in supplying medical oxygen and other high-quality gases to medical institutions.